S9: E13 Finding Freedom in Constraint: Reimagining Spiritual Disciplines as a Communal Way of Life | Jared Patrick Boyd
Mar 16, 2024
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Explore the concept of finding freedom through constraint in spiritual disciplines practiced within a Christian community. Jared Patrick Boyd discusses reimagining spiritual practices as a communal way of life, emphasizing the importance of constraints in shaping us into the way of Christ. Learn about the six core practices of constraint that can lead to a greater freedom to love as God loves.
Constraints of spiritual disciplines in community lead to freedom.
Community engagement aids in personal growth and spiritual formation.
Deep dives
Jared Boyd's Mission with the Order of the Common Life
Jared Boyd, a pastor and spiritual director, leads the Order of the Common Life, a missional monastic order. They are reimagining religious vocations, similar to the Jesuits or the Franciscans, outside the Catholic Church for the modern era. The order focuses on communal spiritual practices and plans to establish an urban monastery in Columbus, Ohio, emphasizing dispersed membership and a deep spiritual formation process.
Jared Boyd's Book: Finding Freedom in Constraint
Jared Boyd's book, 'Finding Freedom in Constraint,' explores reimagining spiritual disciplines as a communal way of life. Boyd shares his personal journey of deconstruction and rediscovery through fixed hour prayer and contemplative Christianity. He emphasizes the communal practice of spiritual disciplines within the monastic tradition, approaching formation as a group effort rather than individual pursuits.
Freedom and Constraint in Spiritual Formation
Boyd discusses the intertwined concepts of freedom and constraint in spiritual formation. Contrary to common views, freedom is not merely doing what one wants, but being untethered from hindrances to true desires. Emphasizing ancient notions of ordering desires, confronting passions, and developing humility, Boyd aligns spiritual disciplines with communal growth and transformation.
The Role of Community in Spiritual Formation
Boyd highlights the pivotal role of community in spiritual formation, particularly in addressing personal faults and affirmations. While individual reflection is crucial, community engagement serves as a mirror for self-awareness and growth. The communal practice encourages vulnerability, humility, and a deeper understanding of God's transformative love, steering individuals away from individualistic pursuits towards communal spiritual growth.
The constraints of the spiritual life, practiced in the community, are what set us free. Practicing spiritual disciplines can seem difficult, especially when we undertake them as isolated individuals. But we were never meant to practice them alone.
Jared Patrick Boyd reveals how the constraints practiced in Christian community shape us into the way of Christ. He re-anchors the practices of constraint within the ascetic tradition of monasticism, religious orders, and the early church fathers. Boyd writes, "The constraints of a rule of life are what make life together, lived for one another, possible. A rule of life is not meant to be primarily personal, but communal. It's not primarily meant to guide my life. It is meant to describe our way of life together." Constraint is the practice of learning to pay deeper attention to the things in our inner world that prevent us from progressing in the school of love.
Discover a deep conversation on freedom and constraint with six core practices of constraint that can form in us a greater freedom to be and become people who love as God loves. Enter into this vision with your local community (in small groups, church leadership teams, or families), and learn to make greater room to experience the love of God.